ADRAnews Winter 2017

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ADRA NEWS

Winter 2017

Fighting to Flourish

Florence squats next to the pot, carefully stirring the hot soup she has made for her children who sit patiently waiting for their food.

We’re in Malawi, a country that shares its borders with Mozambique, Zambia and Tanzania in south-eastern Africa.

Over the hot meal, Florence shares the progress she has made in recent years.

As a child, Florence did not receive any formal education. She could not read or write.

Since her parents were not educated either, Florence was raised in an environment where new methodologies were not encouraged as her family was used to their old traditional ways.

Florence used to work on her family’s farm.

They would frequently run out of food, she remembers.

Now 37, Florence is married with 4 children. In the past, she also struggled to provide enough for them. It made raising a family a very difficult job. She could only afford to feed her children 3

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A warm smile greets everyone who arrives at her door. The house is made of solid brick and covered in a neat thatched roof.

Inside, the aroma of dinner is wafting through the hut.

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Champions of Life During a recent staff meeting and worship, one of my colleagues shared the story of Derek Redmond.

Derek was a British Olympian who, having trained obsessively for years, found himself leading his 400m race in the 1992 Olympic Games only to hear the sound of his hamstring pop at the halfway mark.

He fell to the track in agony, clutching his leg.

What made this story impressive was that after a few moments, this broken athlete got to his feet and began to limp down the track, determined to complete the race. But it didn’t end there. As he limped down the track, an older man ran to his side. It was Derek’s father, who proceeded to comfort and accompany his hurt and crying son down the track and across the finish line. It’s an incredible story of perseverance in adversity.

find ourselves stronger than we imagined, we grapple with our ill luck, and behave better than we expected we should.”

I recently came across an interesting cartographical project entitled Atlas for the End of the World. It illustrates data documenting human use and abuse of our planet’s ecology, resulting in climate change. While the atlas seeks to make distant realities accessible to me through images on a screen, for many of the people that ADRA programs support these realities are a daily experience.

In places like Malawi and South Sudan, there are millions of people right now facing challenges of poverty and famine that seem overwhelming. It would be understandable if they collapsed on their ‘track’ and gave up. But they don’t. Instead they demonstrate remarkable resilience as they continue to fight for better lives for their families and communities.

Join me as you read the stories in this newsletter and share in the privilege of walking alongside these true champions of life. Just like Derek’s father, I pray that you, too, will be moved to action in some way.

The French philosopher and moralist Jean de La Bruyére wrote: “There exist some evils so terrible and some misfortunes so horrible that we dare not think of them, whilst their very aspect makes us shudder; but if they happen to fall on us, we

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ADVENTIST DEVELOPMENT AND RELIEF AGENCY AUSTRALIA

Mark Webster CEO Adventist Development and Relief Agency Australia

Editor: Josh Dye Contributors: Josh Dye, Mark Webster, Nathan Brown Cover Photo: Sandra Henri

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FROM PAGE 1

“I want one of my kids to work for ADRA one day and help in making food available to people,” Florence says.

meals per day in the first 3 months after harvest.

This entrenched cycle of poverty began affecting her children’s education as well, since they were needed to help with the farm work and could not attend school.

When ADRA’s Tsogolo Labwino project began in the area in 2010, “it transformed the mindset of the people,” Florence says.

The project helped farmers like Florence build resilience and better manage climate shocks like drought. She learnt techniques about how to grow drought-resistant crops, improve irrigation, water management and food storage.

Florence was filled with enthusiasm and hope.

Before too long, she began to see results.

“After following all the cultivation methods, I was able to harvest 10 bags of maize from the same land I used to harvest just 3 bags,” Florence says.

During the next season, she taught what she had learnt to other farmers to assist them too. She even began to expand the different types of crops she grew to help with soil fertility.

To help survive the hard times, the project also promotes community savings and loans schemes.

Photo: Sandra Henri

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access a loan to buy a cow which provided manure as fertiliser and increased her crop yield.

She now employs other people to work in her garden and hopes to open a small shop soon to boost her household income.

Additionally, Florence learnt how to read and write through an adult literacy program. She now encourages her children to go school so that they can become change agents in the future.

“I want one of my kids to work for ADRA one day and help in making food available to people,” she says.

“This community needs more business management trainings because if the households have no other alternatives of getting income, food insecurity problems are likely,” Florence says.

Through her hard work, Florence is a shining example in her flourishing community. But most impressively, Florence has demonstrated her generosity by teaching others in her community techniques to improve their food security.

You can help people like Florence flourish by making a gift before June 30.

Visit www.adra.org.au/flourish

Florence joined this group, enabling her to

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Photo: Frank Spangler

Disaster Updates

East Africa Famine The already impoverished Horn of Africa is in crisis.

Famine was declared in South Sudan in February while parts of Somalia, Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia and Yemen are on the brink of famine.

Over 20 million people are facing lifethreatening food shortages and more than 600,000 children under five will require urgent treatment for severe acute malnutrition. This number is expected to rise rapidly.

Gedie is a single mother of 8 children in Kenya.

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“I have nothing to feed my family,” Gedie says.

As she sits inside her grass hut, she describes the urgency of her situation. Failed rains have caused her gardens to wither and livestock to die.

With training from ADRA, Gedie used to grow enough vegetables for her family, and sell leftovers for income. She was independent and self-sufficient.

“Since 2013 when ADRA Kenya trained and supported me, I have been able to harvest enough spinach, kale and tomatoes to feed my family and sell the surplus to my neighbours

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Photo: Britt Celine Oldebraten

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and use the money to buy other cereals.

“Life has been good,” Gedie says.

But not anymore. Gedie has run out of food for her family. The United Nations has described this as the largest humanitarian crisis since the UN was founded in 1945.

“At times we have to skip meals as there is nothing to cook.

“My daughter and I have to borrow food from the shop on credit, walk long distances to fetch water and firewood for sale in order to repay debts,” Gedie says.

“Over the last three months my family had to sell two goats at a throwaway price due to prolonged drought in order to buy food.”

She points to an emaciated goat near her hut.

“See what drought has done to my livestock? I have nothing to feed my family.”

Gedie to prepare her farm for when the rain arrives.

“It is more than a joy that my family has received 30kgs of rice, 10 kgs of beans, 5 litres of cooking oil and a packet of salt (0.5kg) this month and there is hope for the next two months. This food will supplement the little we have and my family may not skip meals for the rest of the month.

"More so, we have received the food we like very most the rice, beans and much cooking oil which we can use to prepare our local Ajera pancake.

“With this food my family will not have to sell our remaining three goats or have to borrow food from the shop on credit. Now my daughter and I will have time to prepare our gardens as we await the rains.”

And with your support, ADRA will help thousands more people like Gedie right across the region.

Gedie is not alone. More than 20 million people in South Sudan, Somalia, Kenya, Nigeria and Yemen are facing famine and starvation as the region faces an unprecedented disaster.

ADRA’s monthly food rations have commenced and are already saving lives, helping enable

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Thank you so much for supporting ADRA’s work during disasters to bring urgent relief to people in need.

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Photos: Charlene Luzuk

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ADRA Responds to Cyclone, Flooding In the weeks since Cyclone Debbie engulfed coastal regions of north Queensland and severe flooding inundated northern NSW, ADRA has been working hard to help people recover.

In North Queensland, a total of 11 volunteers and two ADRA staff were deployed to the impact area.

ADRA hired a plane and flew 4 generators and over 500 Litres of water to households in Bowen.

The ADRA Op Shop in Mackay distributed 112 food relief parcels, and the team of volunteers spent five days helping clear debris from a dozen homes in Hideaway Bay, Bowen and Proserpine.

Even on Good Friday, two ADRA volunteers were

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in Midge Point, just south of Proserpine, helping clear debris from a man’s home.

In South Queensland, ADRA responded to a distress call for help in Logan and worked closely with local SDA churches to coordinate volunteers.

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Photo: Ashley Smith

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food parcels, church members assisting clean up and doing furniture drops.

ADRA’s next step will be to provide psycho-social support for people affected, as the months that follow a devastating cyclone are often the hardest for those who have been hit by the disaster.

• Murwillumbah: more than 40 church volunteers assisting clean up efforts, providing food, dropping off furniture.

Plans are already being laid for the next cyclone to hit, with pre-positioned supplies to be bought to ensure ADRA can respond quickly and effectively.

Overall, ADRA has allocated up to $116,000 for the Cyclone Debbie and flood response ($30,000 for NNSW, $12,500 for SQLD and $73,500 for NQLD).

In Northern NSW, more than 500 people were provided with accommodation from evacuation centres in Lismore, Kyogle, Kingscliff, Murwillumbah and Ballina. Additional support was provided in the following areas:

In the lead up to this disaster, an estimated $110,000 had been invested in volunteer training and capacity building in QLD and NNSW, which allowed for a swift and thorough response in the immediate aftermath.

• Kingscliff: 50 church volunteers involved in clean up; providing hot meals for people in need

Photo: Chris Markey

• Lismore: soup kitchen volunteers delivering

You can donate to help ADRA reach more people in disasters: www.adra.org.au/donate

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Program Updates Emergency Coordinators Mitigating Disasters For the first time, full-time ADRA emergency coordinators will be employed in five South Pacific countries to help prepare for and mitigate against major disasters.

The positions in Fiji, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Solomon Islands will strengthen the emergency management capability of the ADRA offices in each country.

ADRA Australia CEO Mark Webster said disaster preparedness is key to mitigating the effects of a crisis. “ADRA works very closely with churches to respond to disasters.

When people need us, we’re already there and

these positions will further increase our reach.”

Research has shown that funding disaster risk reduction (DRR) activities greatly reduces the risks and impacts of disasters by helping communities to be prepared in advance for disasters before they occur.

Be Bold For Change On March 8, the ADRA Community Centre in Macquarie Fields, in Sydney’s west, celebrated International Women’s Day. The morning tea attracted dozens of women. Attendees were inspired by the theme, ‘Be Bold For Change!’

Thank you to all of the amazing women who make ADRA’s work possible!

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The Difference Water Makes agreed to work together to build this system,” he explains.

“We had some of our men help to build the water system,” he adds. He tells us the story of one elderly man who dug more than 500 metres of trenches by himself to ensure a tap station would be built near his family’s home.

After work was completed, the pump, tanks and water system were handed over to a management committee appointed by the village. A member of the management group checks the pump twice every day, the committee has the task of arranging for repairs as needed, and they collect a small monthly fee from each household to contribute to maintenance of the system.

Photo: Angela Brown

Raul is pleased with the difference the water system has made to the lives of people in his community. “There were some difficulties with this project at the start,” he says, “but now more than 100 households have access to this system and we are seeing the benefits of it.

November is the hottest, driest time of the year in in the south-eastern provinces of Timor Leste and, in communities that have been affected by the recent El Niño drought, they are hoping for the wet season to begin soon.

In the village of Luca, the pump that supplies their water system has not been working for the previous two weeks and the community has had to resume the daily chore of carrying water from the nearby river.

Raul is an elected village leader in Luca. “Before we started construction, we had a meeting with our community leaders and ADRA, and we

“Because we have better access to water, we are healthier,” says Raul. “And we are continuing to work with ADRA on further projects to increase our health and hygiene, and to build more latrines in our community.”

While the community had been waiting on outside technical assistance, the visiting ADRA staff were able to find the problem in the system and get the water pumping again, As the water begins to flow and taps around the village return to life, it offers a glimpse of the difference the water makes.

Nathan Brown is book editor at Signs Publishing.

He visited Timor Leste in November.

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Thank-You

We have thousands of wonderful volunteers.

Here’s a shout-out to just a few!

Christmas Wishes Come True

This will provide literacy kits to educate and empower women in PNG, toilets to give life-changing sanitation in Cambodia and hot meals to homeless people in Brisbane. And that’s just naming a few things.

Photo: SQLD Conference

Almost $358,000 was raised at Christmas to help create brighter futures for people in Australia and around the world.

Thank you for your incredible generosity!

Sanitarium Staff Speak Out

Photos: Sanitarium staff

It was participating in an ADRA Connections trip to Thailand that provided the spark.

In May 2016, a small team of Sanitarium staff visited ADRA’s Keep Girls Safe project where their passion to serve was ignited.

Since then, Sharon Green and a host of colleagues have worked tirelessly to fundraise for the project and advocate about the issue.

“We have used our experience from when we visited and worked in the shelter to raise awareness of the issue of human trafficking and raise funds specifically for the amazing young girls at the Keep Girls Safe project,” Sharon says.

In the past 12 months, they have presented at numerous events and hosted fundraising events, raising many thousands of dollars and inspiring hundreds of people to join the cause.

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Thank you for speaking out!

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Photos: Charlene Luzuk

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How Can I Help?

“He’s so driven to help people. He would work all day every day if we let him,” Charlene says.

Graham Robbins was watching the news at his home in Ayr, north Queensland, as Tropical Cyclone Debbie approached the coastline when he suddenly jumped up and sprang into action.

Graham says the experience has been extremely rewarding.

He’d seen Charlene Luzuk, the Northern Australia Conference ADRA Director, doing a TV interview about ADRA’s presence in the area.

“A lot of them had actually given up. They were saying, ‘We wouldn’t know where to start, we’re thinking about selling up.’

As Graham puts it: “I wanted to see if I could offer any help.”

Graham and his small team of volunteers helped clear debris from dozens of homes between Bowen and Airlie Beach.

It was a simple question and a case of ‘right place, right time.’

Graham had been preparing to fly to Western Australia but when his flight was cancelled due to the storm, he decided to see what he could do to make a difference.

“It’s been very tiring, but well worth it,” Graham says. “Just seeing the smiles on people’s faces.”

“To give them that little bit of hope, the gratitude that comes back our way… there are no words to describe that.”

Charlene describes Graham as a “God-send”.

“He was so passionate about helping. He actually sought me out and said, ‘How can I help?’

Thank you to all those who helped respond to this disaster, through volunteering, prayer or financial support.

Share Your Story We love our volunteers and want to profile your stories.

Do you have one to share? Email news@adra.org.au ADVENTIST DEVELOPMENT AND RELIEF AGENCY AUSTRALIA

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After following all cultivation methods, I was able to harvest 10 bags of maize ffrom the same land I used to harvest just 3 bags.

Help people liike Florence

natte today!

Please don